Torontonians protest Viet Cong

On December 5, organizers held a Shut Down Viet Cong protest outside Lee’s Palace, where Calgary quartet Viet Cong were playing and had played the previous night. A crowd of 40 to 50 peaceful protesters gathered outside the venue holding placards that said “Change Your Racist Name” and “Viet Cong Is Racist.”

As attendees of the show began to line up outside, organizers handed out T-shirts emblazoned with the “Still named Viet Cong / Still no apology / Still racist” slogan, as well as copies of the article Double Double Land’s Jon McCurley wrote for NOW last week. McCurley also read the article over a loudspeaker and passed the mic to fellow protesters so they could explain why they were at the demonstration.

At one point an officer from 14 Division tried to mediate an exchange between the organizers and the band, but eventually informed the protestors that the band had no wish to meet with them.